Let me get this straight, it is confusing – lard, lardon, pork crackling, crunchy pork fats? Here is what they stand for; lard is the liquid fats of animal fats, lardon is a cube or strip of pork fats, pork crackling has the same meaning as crunchy pork fats, and they both means rendered pork lardon that is crispy and crunchy.
Why the variation of the terms? Well, it is just most local Malaysian would call them pork crackling or crunchy pork fats, but I will have to briefly clarify this, so if you are not from Malaysia could understand the context I am about to explain next.
Homemade Pork Lardon that does not stench but stays crunchy? Read on!
Often I heard from people saying that the lardon they made has some weird smell, somewhat stench very quickly. Well, in how to make a lardon guide, I will be sharing how my dad’s Chef Keong used to render his lardon as well as making crunchy pork crackling that his customer absolutely loves them!
Well back in the days when my dad still running his restaurant, very often guests will come walking to the kitchen with a bowl on their hands, a little shy-ish, and would say, “Hey, can I have some pork crackling?”
I was not knowing why do they like our pork crackling so much. As time passes, I come to notice that indeed many out there are not making this simple pork lard right.
Secrets to Making the Best Lardon and Pork Crackling!
To render a good lardon, you will need good quality fats, be it pork, chicken, beef, or any other animal fats. The selection of parts of fats is actually rather important. There are always two types of fats;
- One type does not melt away when you render them
- The other type where most of it will melt away when we render them.
If the wrong part of fats is used, the lard will end up looking bad, reduces in size, and lastly, they do stench. Below is a picture to briefly illustrate the type of fats.
Best Method in Rendering Lardon for Best Pork Lard
After all these years of tasting, testing, and observing, the best method to render pork fat which will give you aromatic pork lard, as well as crunchy pork lardon, is;
- Select the right part of fats,
- Blanch them to remove the stench also to keep them in shape,
- Cut them into cubes,
- Render them until you fully remove all the water content,
- Add some aromatic root vegetables.
Check out the recipe below to find out what root vegetables to add!
Author have a say…
Pork lard has been used in Chinese Cuisine for many years. In traditional Chinese Cuisine, pork lard is one of the common fats used. Even in current times, you could easily find pork lard in almost every household in China. The pungent aromatic flavor from pork lard brings back a lot of old memories, pork lard mixes white rice, or a plate or pork lard mix noodles. So simple yet so good. However, not everyone knows the important secret to make good pork lard that would not stench even after you keep it for a month and the killer is the crunchy pork fat cracklings! Here is how my dad made them and today I am sharing it with you guys!
Homemade Pork Lard with Crunchy Pork Cracklings!
Ingredients
- 500 g Pork Fats
- 2 knob Ginger (with skin on and crushed)
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Instructions
- Clean and trim off any meats on the fats.
- Blanch the pork fats for 5 minutes.
- Rinse blanched pork fats until can handle with hands.
- Cut pork fats into 1cm cubes.
- With a frying pan, fry pork fats over high heat.
- Stir occasionally to prevents burn.
- As the fats begin to emulsify into lard, add crushed ginger.
- When the fats begin to turn brown, lower the heat to low heat.
- Continue frying until the fats has become completely golden brown and the pork fats does not bubble anymore.
- If you have any left over pork lard, add them in at this step.
- Otherwise， skip and go to step number (12).
- Switch off the heat and remove ginger.
- Transfer pork lard into a container alongside with the fats cracklings.
Hi Ethan,
When I used belly fat I got nice crunchy cracklings. However, when I used kidney fat the cracklings were soft, hardly crunchy. Is belly fat more suitable to achieve crunchy cracklings, or did I do something wrong? And what about kidney fat? Is that a good type of fat for crunchy cracklings?
Thanks!
Regarding the last question of my previous comment: I meant back fat instead of kidney fat.
My apologies, I meant back fat instead of kidney fat in my last question in my previous post.
Hi Fred,
Yes, belly fats are the most suitable fats to make crunchy cracklings.
If you observe in detail, there are two types of fats, if you scroll up and look at the picture of the two fats I attached, one type is soft of denser and the other type is sort of softer.
The denser type of fats is more suitable for crunchy cracklings.
The softer type will, like what u say become soft and not crunchy at all.
The softer type of fats is the type of fats used for ramen broth, cause the fats will dissolve.
Hope this explanation is not too technical and could help u out.
Ethan
Thanks, Ethan. From now on I will use only belly fat if I need to make crunchy cracklings. Kidney fat won’t work (I tried a second time, again unsuccesful).
Apart from belly fat and kidney fat, there’s a third type of pork fat. It’s back fat. Not sure how this type of fat will perform in making crunchy cracklings though. But from what I understand from your article: if this back fat is a softer type of fat like in your picture on the right side, it won’t do a good job in making crunchy cracklings.
Hey Fred,
sorry for the late reply, back fat should be okay.
They are the type of fats that I showed in my article.
Thanks, Ethan. Final conclusion: pork belly fat and pork back fat are both okay for crunchy cracklings. Kidney fat is not okay. This is very useful information, since I haven’t found this anywhere else on the internet.
I am glad that this article helps you out.
Yes, indeed, no one has written an article on the part of fats to use.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Fred!
Wishing you a great 2021 ahead!